I feel so disappointed for deciding to start this diet! You show faith to this website and try to follow this diet, but on the way you read so many different opinions in this forum, where people say “No” to things that other people say “yes” to. So different opinions on the duration of this diet, on what to eat and what not to eat, on how horrible these die-off symptoms can be, and nothing about people who have completed with success this diet and moved on with their life.

No light at the end of the tunnel and personally I don’t want to continue doing this diet forever! I want to say that I appreciate the fact that people do share their experiences and what they think is right, but for me it doesn’t make things clearer, but rather adds to the confusion. I know that people will say it is subjective and your body will show you the way, but it’s not enough at the moment.

I am submitting my uni research in some weeks and I just started anti-fungals for stage 2, and everything feels so uncertain about what is next!

Summer is coming and I just want to enjoy myself, and not thinking all the time what I am going to eat! I feel trapped!

I wonder how other people feel? Sorry if I overwhelm you, but this is how i feel at this stage!

I know exactly how you feel, it is very confusing with lots of mixed I formation available to us. It really is a case of; what works one person won’t necessarily work for another. But the basic principles are the same for everyone – eliminate yeast, ALL sugars (maybe some fruits can be re-introduced later) and no dairy or fungus. The rest of it may depend how bad your candida is, and you will get more in tune with your reactions to foods. I really don’t believe we need to be on this diet forever, but you will need to eat with consideration. I also think that, for me at least, the harder I’ve worked to get rid of it, the more I’ll think about what I’m eating in the future! Last summer I felt very depressed about not being able to eat lots of yummy summer fruits, and did slip up and eat too many at times. This summer, I don’t want to risk it. I have recently come accross this website http://www.wholeapproach.com/index.php which has a symptom assessment questionnaire, and recommends you do it regularly to assess your progress. It has made me feel really positive today as my results were for very mild candida. I don’t know what your symptoms are and how they affect your life, but I had really painful stomach cramps and extreme tiredness, a desire for wellness and energy was enough to keep me going on. Now you know that you have candida, you can decide to commit to getting rid of it when you’re ready. In the meantime you will no doubt be noticing more how you react to certain foods and can eat a bit more mindfully.

I imagine most Candida sufferers can remember feeling like you were when you wrote that. I can’t really remember it, but I’m sure I had my days. Today, I’m without a single Candida symptom, seriously, not one. I’m still on what I guess you would call a low-carb diet, but only because I intend to stay 100% healthy for the rest of my life, plus, there’s no way I would take a chance on the Candida coming back.

Learning to live with the diet was definitely one of the most challenging changes I’ve ever faced, but it’s definitely possible. In fact it’s possible to even come to the point like myself where I decided that this is the way I ‘want’ to live, meaning a much healthier life style because of the foods I choose to put into my body.

Of course, you were right with your comment, “… different opinions on the duration of this diet on what to eat and what not to eat.” So true, but anytime lots of people have the same disease there are going to be many different opinions as to how to cure it, as well as different responses to foods, supplements, etc. Look at the common cold, lots of people will tell you to definitely get to a doctor as soon as possible, others tell you to eat Grandma’s chicken soup and feed a cold but not a fever. Still others will tell you to take mega doses of vitamin C to knock it out. Do all of these opinions keep you from seeking your own cure? Of course not. So you have to think of this disease just the same as any other illness.

Remember that people with Candida are not all alike, and everyone will have different reactions to different foods and cures – again, just like any other illness.

Do your own experiments like a lot of us did. Soon after I started the diet I learned that if I really wanted to cure this thing, I had to be 100% serious about my diet for at least the next year or longer. That’s how important it was for me to be able to say that I no longer had Candida. So my response was to cut out everything that I felt may be able to either feed the Candida or to build a comfortable environment in which they could thrive. What I did to accomplish this was nothing more than common sense. I did a little studying into foods that I wasn’t already that familiar with and used the knowledge I already had for foods that I had eaten for many years.

The following was my conclusion, and to start with, I can actually use a direct quote from Neeky’s post: “… eliminate yeast, ALL sugars (maybe some fruits can be re-introduced later) and no dairy or fungus.”

That’s it in a nutshell, and a very basic starting place. Very simple if you ask me, and easy after just a little research.

All sugars: So what does that mean? Does it mean any food that can and will turn into sugar once it’s in our body? Of course it does. I’m talking about such things as white potatoes, carrots, sweet peas, corn and corn products, pasta and rice.

Foods that contain yeast: Of course that means wheat products, ALL wheat products. By the way, distilled white vinegar involves fermentation with yeast, so this will feed the Candida. Another ‘hidden’ enemy is regular table salt such as Morton’s. If you look at the ingredients of a box of Morton’s table salt, in all probability you’ll see the word “Dextrose” included. This of course is nothing but glucose, a simple sugar which will feed Candida. A good sea salt such as Celtic or Himalayan sea salt is perfect, having more minerals and contains no Dextrose.

Dairy products: Kefir is a exception, so is plain Organic Greek Yogurt, sparingly in the first few months, as long as it causes no reactions. Contrary to what a lot of people think, eggs are not a dairy product since dairy refers to the products of the mammary glands of mammals. Butter of course is one of these. Eggs can be a main staple item on the Candida diet, especially when a lot of us react negatively to red meat and even chicken unless it’s organic.

I missed bread – a lot, even though I never ate that much of it on my regular diet. However, without any other type of carbohydrates, I thought about it often when I was eating a meal. So what I did was go in search of a suitable substitute, which turned out to be coconut flour. Now I make coconut flour loafs as well as biscuits every few days and love it. It contains lots of protein and fiber, and is very filling.

Two words to remember on this diet are “Experiment” and “Search.” They’re pretty self explanatory.

You can get out of that funk you seem to be in if you just decide to climb out and get to work on your cure, you already know that no one can do that for you. Make the decision to beat this SOB that has your body held captive, then take the necessary steps to do exactly that. Also know that people here on the forum are always willing to listen as well as answer your questions with the knowledge of ‘their own experience’ …. that’s important to remember and accept, because it’s all that any of us have to offer. Also try to keep in mind that the experiences and therefore opinions are going to differ, sometimes greatly, but that’s because we’re not clones and all from one mold.

Hi. Thank you both for your responses. I can give you a calmer response today 🙂 I did freak out the other day, but I think it was understandable. I want to ask whether anyone knows if taking anti-fungals for 1 month or more is unhealthy or if it is fine? Can it have effects on the body for taking them for too long? In regards to my earlier post, I think that what I would appreciate from this website is if it could have made clear that for example the duration of each stage can vary from 3 weeks to months, etc. I think what was my experience is that I started this diet feeling positive and confident based on the structure that this website gives and suddenly I was thrown into a pool on my own. That’s when I felt trapped, cause I gave my best shot to commit to it and then there is this realisation that perhaps I need not to have again sweets or bread etc. If this is the case, then why stage 3 exists? Why reintroducing back foods when they will feed the candida anyway even after completing this diet? Some acknowledge about all these, would be much appreciated. I have been too obsessed with my reoccurring thrush, but now I feel even more obsessed and it does not make me any good. I am a student and it is hard for me to devote so much energy in cooking and searching and experimenting as you suggest. I know that it sounds as if I was looking for an easy solution, but I am not. I can pull this diet through, however it wasn’t in my awareness that in reality this diet can be so different from what the administrators in the website recommend and that is what freaked me out.

As far as what I think of the ‘official’ statements on this website and all other websites dedicated to the various Candida diet stages, well, I can tell you that I’ve not read a word written by an administrator of this website because by the time I found this forum, I had learned to ignore the ‘experts’. Ask yourself this, how many of the so-called Candida experts who write the information on these websites do you suppose have actually experienced a Candida infestation? I’d be very surprised if there were more than a half of a percent of them who have, my guess would be closer to none. My advice: ignore the experts and stick with Candida sufferers who have gone through it all.

The quote I gave you by Neeky in my first post still remains: Eliminate yeast, all sugars, and no dairy or fungus. I’ll add no simple carbs, and be very careful with complex carbohydrates, more so in the first 3 months than later on. Eight months after I contracted Candida and managed to ‘mostly’ cure it, at least to the point where I have no symptoms, I’m still eating a very limited amount of complex carbs and no simple carbs at all. The only ones that I’m eating are oat bran 2 to 3 times a week, dried beans up to 3 times a week and a small amount of blueberries a few times a week, and that’s it. I’m taking no chances in this thing coming back as it was before. I can live with this diet for the rest of my life if I need to without a problem because I want my health above all more than I want sugar and carbohydrates. It’s really all about making choices and then sticking with your decision.

As far as stage 2 and 3 after a certain amount of time are concerned, that’s all BS. Stage 2 may be 3 months away, or it may be 3 years away. As far as stage 3 goes, I have no idea what foods are even on that stage because I know I’d be wasting my time to try and find a list. The way I see it, stage 3 will come if and when it’s time for it to, period.

After several months have passed, and you can see an improvement, going out to eat is no longer a problem. First, you get used to the fact that there are certain places you will not go to eat; pizza and hamburger joints for starters. You will learn to choose a decent restaurant where you can order healthier foods such as baked or fried chicken (you simply pull all the skin off the chicken and eat the white meat only), salads, and cooked, healthy vegetables. I went out for lunch today and had fried chicken, a large salad, green beans and lemon water, and I was quite satisfied when I left.

I know you’re a student and don’t have the time to experiment, etc. but guess what, experimenting doesn’t take that much time, you simply put a few bites in your mouth and eat it. If you have no reactions within a reasonable length of time and if the thrush gets no worse, then try adding the food maybe twice a week to your diet. This twice a week is still part of experimenting until you’re sure you can handle the new food.

If you have a question or concern and don’t have time to research it, come to the forum and ask. More times than not somebody will be able to help you.

Ok, so I just took a look at the Candida Diet home page, and in looking at stage 1 I see they’ve titled it “Detox.” I never did a detox with actual supplements. My detox period began when I started the “clean” diet and it’s still going on because I’m still on a clean diet.

I see they have low-mold type nuts during stage 1. This is something that some can handle and some cannot. I still won’t eat any nuts at all because, the last time I tried them, about a month ago, I still receive a mild reactive symptom from even a few, so I just leave them alone.

Again, you have to find these things out by experimenting.

I see also that in stage 1 they placed salt and then also Sea Salt. Another crock. Leave the plain table salt out of your diet from now on. Purchase a good grade of Celtic or Himalayan sea salt. Not only does it NOT contain Dextrose like table salt does, but it contains about 72 essential minerals as opposed to table salt which on average contains 2 minerals. This should be basic kindergarten stuff for so-called Candida experts, but still they can’t get it right.

At the bottom of their list then have herbal teas, and they even tell you that if you miss your morning coffee, to drink green tea. But what they don’t bother to tell you is that, unless you can find a decaffeinated green tea, it will contain caffeine. The reason we need to leave caffeine alone if we have a Candida infestation is because caffeine is extremely hard on the adrenals, and has been known to cause an adrenal crash in people who drink caffeine. Just like nicotine and cocaine, caffeine will overwork the adrenals which can lead to adrenal exhaustion which in turn leads to autoimmune disorders. The chance of this is much larger if you already have Candida because the adrenal glands are normally affected by a Candida infestation, and a common thread between people with an infestation is adrenal fatigue. Ingesting caffeine only adds to the chance of this happening.

Geez, this must be something like grading a elementary school paper, and we call them “experts.” I could probably go on all day and night with the corrections. Do yourself a favor, unless you’re 100% certain that the source is a legitimate authority on Candida, skip it. A legitimate authority probably means someone who has suffered with Candida for a while and therefore did all the research themselves.

Ask questions, talk to us. (It wouldn’t surprise me if I got ejected for this post, oh well, if it makes them feel good.) Able

Yeah, Fillie, I can understand where you are coming from. I think most of us on this forum have gone through that same realisation and the subsequent “ticked off” period that follows it. You *can*, of course, continue on following the diet as the website recommends. The extended time frames are the suggestions of a few users on this site, not the suggestions of any website moderators or administration. So, you kind of have to decide for yourself what path you want to take.

I’ve mostly beem making my decisions based on the info from this website and it’s boards, a couple of published books, another website, and a few acquaintances I have that have successfully dealt with their candida. One gal I went to high school with and have been talking to on Facebook, about candida of all things! 🙂 She followed a diet very carefully for about 6 months, added low sugar fruits and other low-risk foods *gradually** over the next six months to a year. It’s been over 2 years for her now since she first started her candida diet (she was in the care of a naturopath) and she can regularly eat most foods except for actual sweets, white bread products, and high-carb combo foods like pizza **as long as she is careful to balance** any splurge with controlled eating a week or two afterwards. She has had dessert, but only very small portions and only very infrequently. But, she’s fine at this point with most foods. So, the reintroduction period is legitimate, but it’s not designed to get you back to a junk-food-centric diet. There are “off limits” foods that are most likely *always* going to have to be carefully chosen and balanced for those who have had candida issues.

I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better now. These boards are a great place to talk through things, bounce ideas around, and get encouragement. I hope they’re helpful to you 🙂

Hi, thank you for your reply. I guess it is about accepting how things are and just make my own decisions and choices. I need some help on something though, if this is the appropriate place to ask. I ve been taking for 4 days now odourless garlic and I had some reaction to it the first two days (diarrhoea) but now I am ok. I have also reintroduced yogurt (cow’s yogurt) but it made me feel a bit weird in my stomach, bloated and felt very heavy. Yesterday i had some salad with potatoes and today I have kind of thrush symptoms (itchiness). What happened? Does this mean that i need to avoid these foods or is this a normal reaction of my body to foods I havent had for some time? Are 2 foods or 3 too much to reintroduce within a week? But again, I am aware that this website says that one die-off symptom is recurring vaginal infection so I am not sure which is it?

the first week/10 days of a big diet change alone is gonna give you some bad syptoms. As all chemicals/sugars/additives etc leave your body you get withdrawals from that alone!! throw ontop candida die off and it brings all sorts of symptoms into it! but once you make it to the end you feel much better and also you wont forget how you felt so will egg you to go on with the diet and be successfull of killing the yeast off so you dont have to go through it again.

firstly i wouldnt be eating potatoes just yet, you really need to be on a no carb at all diet for a start. The way i got my head around the diet was i got into my head all i can eat is meat and veg and drink only water. Then after a week i introduced some plain natural fat free orgainc plain yogurt into it along with a few other things.

been on the diet for about a month now so decided to try potatoes today and to be honest all the time i had been craving carbs i ate some and was dissapointed so am not gonna bother eating them, maybe others have felt the same way. the longer the diet/antifungal course etc goes on the more you learn and pick it up as you go. doesnt matter if you make a few mistakes along the way as long as you get there in the end.

supplement wise i use quite about 7 different ones daily but to start off i was just using one or 2 then worked my way up. if your stuck for ideas on a rough guide you can always check mine out, again its worked wonders for me but may not for others.

I am not sure if I made this clear earlier, but I am in the second stage of the diet. Are you suggesting that I still need to be in a no carb diet for the first days of the second stage?? Could you please clarify this, as I have the impression that I am allowed to reintroduce potatoes or beans once I am in the second stage. 7 different supplements? Aren’t they too many? Is this healthy for you? What’s the reason behind this? One only doesn’t do the work it is supposed to do?

yeah second stage your supposedly allowed them but at the end of the day is still a basic carb thats gonna feed the yeast so i wouldnt bother till your rid off all the yeast problems then re-introduce (just my opinion tho. Im gonna stick to phase one diet untill everything is under control and not give it the slightest chance.

Supplement wise ive got about 7 i use, one would never ever be enough!! (although maybe as maintenence dose after infection has gone) , but prob take 5 differnt ones a day as i use a rotation system so the candida cant build a resistance to them and also plenty of probiotics to swamp the yeast/feed good flora and take the place on the intestine wall.

When you say you are in Stage 2, do you just mean that you finished your 2-3 weeks in Stage 1 or do you mean that, symptomatically, you felt you were ready for Stage 2? This website and diet are very useful, I think, but one of the biggest drawbacks is this concrete time frame they give everyone to follow. 2-3 weeks in Stage 1 may well be enough for a few folks, but most are going to need longer. I know that’s going to frustrate you, given you already expressed a good bit of annoyance at all the differing info. I’m sorry about that. If you mean that you’ve been in Stage 1 for a while (longer than a month) and felt like you could manage a few reintroductions based on reduced symptoms, I’d say your “reaction” means potatos are still too starchy for you. The yogurt “reaction” could mean any number of things. Personally, I would wait another week before adding any new foods, then I would – *if* your symptoms are significantly reduced – reintroduce only 1 new food per week, going very slowly and paying careful attention to your body.

In my last post I wrote to avoid “all sugars” – including any food that can and will turn into sugar once it’s in our body. This includes white potatoes.

What I’ve said basically in that is that white potatoes will change into a sugar once they’re digested. If you know anything about what sugar does for Candida, you know that it becomes a meal and allows the Candida to multiply, which, as you saw, leads to intensified symptoms. Even in stage 2, sugar (doesn’t matter if it started out as a potato) is the last food item I would want to test. Other than feeding the infestation in your system, another thing you’ve accomplished is a test to see if the infestation is still going on in your body, and obviously it is.

Can you tell us how long you were on stage one of the diet?

The digestive problems were apparently caused by the garlic and yogurt. If you don’t already have it, be sure to purchase plain organic Greek yogurt only. Also, when you start eating something for the first time, like the yogurt, take it slow; I’m talking “very” slow. The first time I tried Greek yogurt while on the diet, I took something like 2 teaspoon-size bites. After two days I moved up to 3, and so on. At this time I’m eating about three bowls a day with no problems.

As far as how many foods to introduce in a week, I suppose that’s a matter of opinion and choice, but I have to agree with Hope as far as just one a week goes. When I was on a diet of nothing but eggs and green vegetables, I eventually started testing just one new food item each week, and discovering that I could eat it without a reaction kept me happy for quite a while. Testing one item every 5 to 7 days should insure that you know exactly what’s causing a reaction should that happen.

Concerning the website that says one of the die-off symptoms is recurring vaginal infections, I’ve never read that before, but it really doesn’t seem to make much sense. As far as I’m aware, vaginal infections happen when the environment of the vagina changes because of yeast, hormones, antibiotics, sexual intercourse, or other means. Maybe someone else on the forum can help you out with that, but I’d be very interested in knowing on which website you found that information.

You’re doing great by the way, all you have to do is focus on what you’re doing “today” and not worry about tomorrow or next week. Able

Useful Info

Newsletter

Sign up to Unlock your FREE Guide To Improving Your Digestion!

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Information is presented for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your healthcare professional. Consult your doctor or health professional before starting a treatment or making any changes to your diet. Also note that this page may contain affiliate links.